Three Newburgh Wrestlers Headed to States!

Cooper Merli, Joseph Ponesse, and Will Soto are heading to states next week!

At the 2023 Section 9 Championships, Cooper Merli came in first place in Section 9 for his weight class (102) and Joe Ponesse (172) and Will Soto (102) came in second place for their respective weight classes.

Cooper Merli is a 9th grader at NFA Main Campus and came in second in the section last year and advanced to the quarterfinals. Merli is the first Section 9 Champion for Newburgh Wrestling in four years.

Joe Ponesse is a senior at NFA North Campus and finished 4th place at the Section 9 tournament last year. Will Soto is an 8th grader at Meadow Hill School and will be traveling to states for the first time. 

Also at the Section 9 Championships, Newburgh’s Kevin Segali placed third at 145 pounds, and Christopher Leggett placed fourth at 189 pounds. Matt Mercado placed fifth at 126 pounds and Jordan Busby finished sixth at 118 pounds. Newburgh Wrestling finished in 4th place as a team at the Section 9 Wrestling Tournament!

The State Competition will be held next week in Albany.

The Newburgh Wrestling program is coached by Christopher Leggett, William Parks, and Frank Dinnocenzio. 

Go Goldbacks!

ATTENTION: Are your scholars or colleagues doing something great? Please contact the district Communications Team at communications@necsd.net. We’d love to visit your class or event and/or post your pictures and recap to highlight the amazing accomplishments throughout our district!